Congratulations to the 2023 Breece Fellowship Recipient

Published in Orthotics & Prosthetics on April 25, 2023

OPGA would like to congratulate the 2023 Breece Fellow Katherine ”Kate” Ketelhohn!

Read more about Kate below as reported by NAOPA:

After a highly competitive process, the NAAOP Selection Committee chose Ketelhohn to serve in the 10-week paid Fellowship program beginning in late May through early August in Washington, DC. Ketelhohn will shadow NAAOP General Counsel, Peter Thomas, and learn about O&P policy and advocacy in the context of the broader disability, rehabilitation, and healthcare policy agenda.

As a result of a serious blood infection as an infant, Ketelhohn lost her left hand and parts of both feet. For nearly 20 years, Ketelhohn has used at different times a body-powered and a myoelectric hand as well as orthotic/prosthetic hybrids to allow her to walk.

“I’m thrilled to have been selected for this prestigious Fellowship and cannot wait to take advantage of this opportunity,” stated Ketelhohn. “Growing up using both orthotics and prosthetics has come with many challenges.The NAAOP Breece Fellowship provides the opportunity for people like me to better understand how public policies are formed and how to best advocate for the O&P community.”

Ketelhohn is a sophomore at Johns Hopkins University majoring in biology in the pre-med program. She has won numerous scholarships and is on the Dean’s list for her academic performance. Her current goal is to enter the field of medicine and understands the relationship between the provision of clinical care and public policy to ensure access to that care.

But Ketelhohn is not just a superior student. She is highly engaged in the theater program at Hopkins and has honed her communications skills throughout the past several years in order to speak publicly with confidence and be the best advocate she can be. She serves as President of Advocates for Disability Awareness at Hopkins and participates on several diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) advisory committees.

As stated by George W. Breece, NAAOP Executive Director and namesake of the Fellowship, “Kate wants to couple her interest in medicine with her passion for disability rights, and her lifelong use of orthotics and prosthetics makes her uniquely qualified for this Fellowship.”

“We welcome her to Washington this summer and could not be happier to have made this selection,” stated Maggie Baumer, NAAOP President. “I have the utmost confidence that she will make the most of the trails blazed by our previous fellows, as well as leave her own unique legacy for future fellows to learn from.”

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